We all sat there, everyone’s eyes fixed on me—except for the four newcomers, who were still engrossed in their idol.

“Well?” Sia prompted, breaking the silence.

“Um—so, we have a sponsor,” I said vaguely.

“Peter,” Thea said, her tone exasperated.

“Yeah… so this place,” I gestured around the room, “it’s paid for, along with the guild fee… every month.”

Thea’s stormy eyes widened. “A thousand points! A month?”

Well, now the four girls were staring at me too.

“Peter… what the heck did you do to get a sponsor like that? Do you even know who they are?” Elric asked, clearly shocked.

I nodded. “I know them. You probably all do too,” I added with a smile.

That didn’t make anyone feel better. If anything, the mood grew more tense. Not quite afraid, but definitely… cautious.

Thea looked at me, her voice serious this time. “Peter, who is it? Why would we know them?”

Rather than blurt it out, I leaned closer and whispered it to Thea, making sure only those of us who have formed a Grand Channel could hear. “The fifth prince.”

She froze halfway to sitting down, and for a moment, the room seemed to freeze with her. Lyra’s voice trembled as she asked, “A—are you sure?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Positive.”

“What did he want?” Sia asked, the same fear creeping into her voice.

“Well, he wanted cultivation, and… he was willing to do almost anything to get it,” I said, remembering the encounter.

Elric shook his head, his expression grim. “No, Peter. You are very, very—very wrong. If it was anyone other than the fifth…”

He trailed off, leaving the weight of his words hanging in the air.

I frowned. “What do you mean? This guy was brutal. He threatened to—”

“That’s just it, Peter,” Elric interrupted. “He only threatened you… and you’re still here.”

“Oh.” The realization hit me like a brick. Maybe this guy was a saint compared to the other princes—or anyone else in power in this country.

Lyra cleared her throat, glancing toward the newcomers. “Why don’t you girls go and offer your services at a healing tent? You won’t get as many points as offering them to people, but the guild will ignore you. We’ve gone over the basics, so you can practice outside if you want.”

Sensing the tension, they didn’t argue. They stood quietly and left, closing the door behind them.

When the room was empty, Lyra spoke again, her voice softer now. “Peter, the royals here… they’re brutal. Merciless. If they wanted something, they wouldn’t bargain, or threaten. They’d just…” She paused, her gaze distant, as if remembering something painful.

Sia placed a comforting hand on Lyra’s back, while Elric moved to her side as well.

After a moment, Lyra continued, her tone steadier. “The fifth prince… he has the worst reputation. Because he’s soft. Weaker in blessing than his brothers and sisters. If he threatened you, then… maybe he never actually intended to follow through. His reputation is poor because he’s known to be kind.”

I would’ve thought she was joking, but her expression told me otherwise. The man who threatened to kill Trevor… kind? It was hard to believe. But maybe she was right. I wasn’t exactly an expert negotiator, and now that I thought about it, he let me do most of the talking. He’d reluctantly agreed to nearly everything I said.

“Okay, so if he’s kind, what’s the problem?” I asked.

Thea sighed helplessly. “Because we’re now one of his instruments, Peter. A pawn. He may be kind, but now that we’re involved with him… we’re part of the royal family’s struggles.” She paused before adding, “A small part, anyway. But the more we help him, the stronger he gets, and the more attention will be on us.”

“There’s no helping it now,” Lyra said, her tone resolute. “We can only move forward and focus on the bright side of this. Our most expensive costs are covered. Now we can focus on developing the guild and the skills we can offer. Plus, we still have weapons from… your time in the forest, so we can provide recruits with some equipment too.”

Everyone nodded at her determination. I broke the silence. “So, cultivation?”

Thea’s serious expression melted into a bright smile. “Sounds good to me. We can do the mission later.”

She seemed happy—happier than usual, even when cultivation was mentioned. “Thea?” I asked cautiously.

“Hmm?” she replied in a sing-song tone, her cheerful mood undeniable.

“Your mission completion wouldn’t have anything to do with a new technique you can use in a spar, would it?” I asked, a hint of dread creeping into my voice.

Thea practically bounced in her seat, her excitement barely contained. “I guess you’ll find out.”

As if that wasn’t ominous enough, I remembered that her mission also granted her stat points. Did she get to choose where to put them, or were they assigned? The thought lingered, but I didn’t ask just yet.

With her cryptic statement hanging in the air, the room fell silent as we all began cultivating. The other three bore the pain of the Grand Carving technique, while Thea and I focused on collecting world force.

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As expected, the amount we needed to absorb for conversion had increased—thanks to the denser internal strength we’d developed. It took time, but eventually, we were ready to spar. I filled my Grand Channel up to around eighty percent with world energy in preparation.

“Now, Thea,” I started nervously, taking up a stance. “There’s no reason to shock me, okay? This is about conversion, not beating me up.”

The smile she gave in response wasn’t exactly comforting. Cute? Sure. But comforting? Not even close.

And then she moved—fast. One second, she was across the room; the next, she was in front of me, her step punctuated by a sharp crackle. I didn’t even see her move before she jabbed me in the stomach.

Despite circulating my internal force and bracing for impact, the hit still left me breathless. She was faster than I’d ever seen.

“Did you get some sort of movement skill?” I grunted, dodging her follow-up blows while keeping a tight defensive stance.

“No, not really,” she said casually, her voice calm even as she advanced on me. “The system called it a ‘deeper connection to the element.’ I can use MP to increase my speed.”

At that, I stopped trying to talk. All my focus shifted to surviving the spar. Once again, I was reminded of the ridiculous advantage systems gave their users over cultivators like me.

When it was over, we collapsed onto the floor, panting. I was frustrated—not at Thea, but at the disparity between us. Just as I was starting to feel powerful, that feeling was shattered.

If this gap stayed the same, how could I ever keep up? And worse, when we were forced into war, they’d have to waste their efforts protecting me.

Thea must’ve noticed something off because she asked, through heavy breaths, “What’s up?”

I shook my head, trying to brush it off. “It’s nothing, really. Just thinking.” After another deep breath, I added, “So, what’s the deal with your speed?”

As we spoke, the other three had started sparring, their conversations filling the room with a low buzz.

“It’s as I said,” Thea explained, still catching her breath. “After completing my mission, the system gave me… insights into my blessing. I can’t really explain it yet. It’s hard to put into words, but I’ll figure it out.”

She sighed, her expression turning hopeful before continuing. “Basically, it’s like an unnamed skill.

I nodded, still processing her words. Part of me felt awe at how seamlessly she’d adapted, but another part burned with the need to close the gap. There had to be a way—something only I could do.

As we resumed gathering energy, something strange caught my attention. None of the world energy I collected had dissipated. I realized I was now at eighty percent internal force in my Grand Channel.

“Thea?” I called, opening my eyes as she did the same.

“The purification must have…” She trailed off, her voice full of wonder.

I nodded, finishing the thought. “We may be slower at cultivating, but now we have—”

She cut me off, her eyes lighting up as she leapt at the chance to finish it herself. “Perfect conversion!” she screeched.

Elric glanced over as Sia and Lyra clamped their hands over their ears. “Thea, ears… please,” he begged, drawing a laugh from me and momentarily easing my earlier frustration.

She ignored him completely, her enthusiasm bubbling over. “Peter, this is great! We can start Body Refinement almost immediately!” Her voice pitched higher, her excitement infectious to me and painfully shrill to everyone else.

Chuckling, I said, “Well, let’s finish the Energy Gathering stage first.”

She nodded eagerly, settling herself right next to me as we resumed gathering the rest of the energy we needed.

Not long after, we both stood, fully charged, and prepared to spar again. As we exchanged blows, we both froze mid-bout. Something had clicked—an undeniable shift.

It wasn’t a transformation, but the feeling was strikingly similar to the solidification of the spiritual reservoirs. The Grand Channel had locked in place within my body. It was complete. Thea and I had officially finished what we’d self-dubbed the Energy Gathering stage.

We shared a triumphant smile, basking in the satisfaction of our efforts. Brimming with energy, we were ready for the next step.

“Want to try out the mission?” I asked, already needing a change of pace. I could tell she wanted to keep cultivating, but honestly, I needed some air.

She paused, considering, before agreeing. “Sure.” She turned to the others. “You guys want to come along for a hunting mission?”

Elric shook his head. “I’m close to finishing here—a few more hours, and I think I’ll be done. Besides, I want to check on the girls.”

Sia stood. “Will you be okay by yourselves? Packclaws aren’t a joke in groups.”

I thought back to the instructors’ teachings on Packclaws. They were dangerous, but with Thea and me working together, it felt like we could escape almost any situation if things got too bad. “We should be fine, I think,” I said with confidence.

Lyra chimed in, her tone cautious but firm. “Just make sure to stay together. No one should separate. Got it?”

We both nodded, silently agreeing to her advice.

“Alright, we’ll see you later tonight then.” I waved while stepping out of the room, Thea following closely behind.

Once outside, I turned to Thea. “Is there a map or compass we can get? The last thing we need is to get lost in the forest.”

“Maybe we can ask Miss Star about a shop nearby?” she suggested.

Already heading toward the inn across the street, I nodded. “Good idea. She must know—living here and all.”

We entered the building and saw her behind the counter. She looked up and smiled. “Oh, you two are back a little early. Something you need?”

Thea stepped forward. “We’re going on a hunt. Do you know a good place to get some tools for navigation?” She paused briefly before adding, “And maybe the best place to find Packclaws around here?”

Miss Star’s smile brightened. “There’s a stall not far from here, but you can just use some of my old tools. One second.” With that, she disappeared through a side door.

Thea and I stood there, waiting only a moment before she returned, holding two items: a small white cube, about the size of a palm, and a circular object with a needle.

Miss Star held them out. “Here. Just open your system with this one, and it’ll handle the rest.” She handed the circular object to me. “And you can use this compass, just in case you lose the tool.”

I turned the compass in my hands, watching the needle stay fixed in one direction. I had no clue how magnetic poles worked here—or even if cardinal directions were a thing—but it was clear this would be helpful.

Thea called out her system and gasped. “This is amazing!” Her eyes widened as she looked at Miss Star with a hint of worry. “Are you sure I can borrow this?”

Miss Star nodded. “You can have it.” She smirked, looking more like a sly businesswoman than the kind mother we were used to. “Your sponsor asked for my prices on your stay, but I didn’t mention the discount I gave you. So, he paid in full for a room for three.”

I already knew she’d given us a discount because of Sia, but I didn’t dare ask. Instead, I said, “Thank you… By the way, what’s for dinner?”

Miss Star chuckled softly. “Coincidentally, Packclaw soup with some vegetables.”

I didn’t know what Packclaw tasted like, but if she cooked it, I already knew it would be good. As if on cue, a stomach growled.

I glanced at Thea, raising an eyebrow at her in silent accusation.

“Oh no, you’re not blaming me this time—”

A louder growl interrupted her, echoing through the room and leaving her red-faced.

I grinned. I knew it. She was as much of a glutton as me.

Miss Star laughed, shaking her head. “You two go off now. When you get back, there’ll be plenty of food waiting.”

As we stepped outside, Thea pouted, her cheeks still red. “That was your fault. You just had to ask her about food.”

Laughing, I reached out and took her hand. “Come on, let’s go. Explain that cube to me on the way.”

Thea glanced down at our hands, her pout softening, and then she nodded, a faint smile breaking through her embarrassment.